The Blind Paladin
by whovianmidget
Summary: After two and a half weeks of being tortered by the Galra and Haggar, Keith had finally been rescued by his team. Only, he didn't get out unscathed, and he would have to live with the damage for the rest of his life. A blind Keith fic, rated T for mentions of torture.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"All right Pidge, go in, I've got you covered. No one's noticed you yet, so try to keep it that way." Lance said from behind her, voice teasing.

As if the universe wanted to prove Lance wrong, alarms sounded through the whole ship, a shrill noise repeating over and over. Pidge looked over to the blue paladin and smirked. "Spoke a little too soon, huh?"

Suddenly Galra soldiers were entering from every door, flooding the room. Lance and Pidge both immediately took defence positions, arms at the ready.

"They knew we were coming." Lance said darkly, shooting his bayard at the nearest soldiers.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Well it's really not surprising. They took Keith. They know that we would come to get him." She dodged a shot aimed at her, throwing her electric bayard at the Galra in return. "The whole thing was probably a trap to begin with. Kidnap the Red Paladin, other Paladins come to rescue him with the lions, they take lions, no more defender of the universe. But we knew that coming in, and decided it was worth the risk." She launched her bayard again and swung left, electricating five Galra in one shot.

Lance sighed. "I know. Okay, I'm going to give you an opening. Keith's in there, go get him."

Pidge nodded, filled with determination. Lance was right, Keith was in there, and nothing was going to stop her from getting him back. Pidge deflected a shot aimed at her, kicked open the door, and slammed it behind her, trusting in Lance to keep the Galra from coming after her. She would never admit it, but Lance was actually a really good sharpshooter.

And finally, _finally, _they were going to rescue their friend and get out of here. All she needed to do was grab Keith and they were home free.

Yet as she turned around, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next.

"_Keith!"_

Pidge ran and kneeled next to him, where he was chained against a far wall. He was covered, literally _covered _in blood. He hadn't even seemed to register she was here. What did they do to him?

"Keith, it's okay, it's me, I'm going to get you out of here. Lance!" she called over the comms, "Lance, I've found Keith. He's in really bad shape. How much time do I have?"

"_Only a few doboshes, there's too many of them Pidge, get Keith and get out of there!_" Lance's usually teasing voice was serious, and _quiznack _they were running out of time.

"Okay Keith, come on, I'm going to unchain you okay?" She reached up, touching his hands to figure out how to possibly get the chains off of her friend, but suddenly Keith flinched, _hard, _eyes flying open and he _whimpered. _Pidge drew her hand back in surprise, she had thought he was unconscious this whole time, but if he was awake, how did he not hear or see her?

That could only mean…

Pidge looked at Keith's eyes, wide and frantic and _afraid, _but there was something else about them. They were unfocused and pale and there were scars around them, little cuts that went across his eyes, and she realized he couldn't see. They had taken away his sight, and they had done it slowly and painfully.

"Keith, Keith it's me, it's Pidge. It's okay, please, its me."

Keith whimpered again, the sound making Pidge want to scream and cry because _Keith should not be making that sound, not him. _

"Keith, I promise it's me, please, It's me." She cried. Then a thought hit her, and she begged it not to be what she thought it was. "Keith," _please, no._ "Keith, can you hear me?"

The silence scared her more than anything.

_Don't jump to conclusions, Pidge, you have to have proof._

Taking a deep breath, she screamed. She screamed as loud as she could, hoping for any sort of reaction.

And there was none.

"Lance," she said shakily, wondering how her face got so wet, "Lance this really isn't good."

"_Pidge, I'm really busy right now, if you could please _hurry _so we can get out of here_." She could hear gunshots through the comms, and knew she had to get moving, but for the first time in her life she had no idea what to do.

"Lance, they.. He, he can't see or hear anything. Lance, I don't know what to do."

There was silence over the comms and for a second she'd thought Lance was gone and the thought scared her more than she'd ever be willing to admit.

"_Pidge_," At the sound of his voice she let out a sigh of relief. "_You always know what to do. If anyone can figure this out, it you._"

Pidge tried to calm down. She just had to breath, and think. Clear her head. "Okay," she breathed. "Okay, I can do this."

She could literally hear Lance's smirk from across the comms. "T_hat's the Pidge I know. Now _hurry_. I can't hold this for much longer._"

Okay, here goes nothing. She pulled her bayerd, hoping that this would work. With enough force, it should. She stood up, raising it over her head, and slammed it through the chains that attached to the wall.

The chains pulled away from the wall, and while the cuffs were still on his wrists, they were no longer attached to the wall, and his arms fell to the floor.

Keith's face scrunched up in confusion, but when Pidge reached down to grab his hands, he panicked again. Pidge grabbed his hands, and even though Keith fought against it, she refused to let go.

Then, she took a deep breath, and lifted Keith's hand to her face. More specifically, her glasses and hair. When Keith felt the glasses, he stopped fighting. He felt her glasses, then all around her face, then spoke.

"Pidge?"

His voice was so quiet and hoarse that she almost couldn't hear him. She pressed his hands more against his face and nodded, and Keith's face crumpled in relief.

Pidge let go of Keith's hands and stood up because now that Keith knew it was her they _had to get out of there_, but as soon as she did Keith seemed to panic again and reached out his hands.

"Pidge!" He shouted, hands searching for her, voice filled with desperation. She immediately grabbed one of his hands, and he grabbed that hand with both of them. She pulled to try to communicate he needed to get up, and he seemed to understand.

She helped him up and they walked slowly to the door, she half carrying him. Pidge had no idea how many injuries he had, or how bad they were. They didn't have the time, they needed to get out of there. Yet it hurt her so badly every time he whimpered in pain. But there was nothing she could do. So, she opened the door and together they walked out.

And then chaos ensued.

* * *

Lance's heart stopped when Pidge said what had happened to Keith. The Galra had been cruel enough to take away two of Keith's senses. He must have been terrified.

Lance would never forgive himself for letting Keith get taken. It was his fault. He was there, he should've been able to stop it. But he was just Lance, stupid Lance who couldn't ever do anything right. But they had been too fast, and that _witch _shut down the Castle of Lions, they couldn't even warp after them. It took weeks to find where the Galra were. And even then, Lance was sure it was a trap. That's why they had been able to find Keith at all. The Galra were setting a trap for them to get the Lions.

So they made a plan. Two of them go in so that they would be more likely to not be seen, and have one Lion hidden by Pidge's awesome tech for backup. The others would stay half a solar system away, ready to warp them back at any given moment.

Now, though, Lance couldn't even back Pidge up. There were too many Galra, he couldn't take them all. He was trying to fend all of them off, shooting every Galra that came close to him or to the room that had Keith and Pidge, silently thanking Altean technology for not needing to reload. But they weren't going to be able to make it out of there, and it would all be his fault again.

_No, _he thought. _Save Keith first, self-hate later. Now think. _

"Hunk!" he yelled through the comms. "Hunk, buddy, come in!"

"_Lance?" _Hunk replied, "_What's wrong? Do you need back up?"_

Lance smiled at the sound of his friends voice. "Yeah, man, they knew we were coming. Pidge found Keith but he's in bad shape. There are too many of them."

"_What do you need me to do?" _

Lance smirked as he shot down another Galra soldier. "Buddy, your going to think I'm crazy."

* * *

"You want me to _what?!"_ Hunk yelled, eyes widening in shock. "Man, I thought you were crazy before, but now…"

"_I know, I know," _Lance said, "_But man, you gotta trust me. It's the only plan I've got."_

Hunk sighed. "Okay, I'll do it, just tell me when. But Lance, this could kill you guys."

He was worried. Really worried. He knew Lance was a good strategist, but frankly, this plan seemed more like something Keith would do. Lance must either be crazy, or a genius. Or a crazy genius.

"_I'm sure about this. We'll be fine, I promise. Just do it when I give the word, Pidge and Keith will be here any minute."_

Hunk sighed again. He was not emotionally prepared to do this. But he trusted Lance, trusted him with his life, and if Lance said this would work, it would.

It was only 30 ticks later when Lance shouted. "_Hunk! Now!"_

And Hunk closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and used his Lion to shoot directly at the Galra ship his friends were on, praying he didn't just kill them all.

* * *

Silence and darkness. That was all Keith could feel.

It was a strange sensation, the only thing connecting him to the world around him was touch. And even that was limited, he couldn't move at all. Even if his arm's weren't chained to the wall, he'd be too exhausted by the sheer amount of pain he would feel at any movement.

The Galra had taken his sight the first week he had been here. Or at least, that's how long he thought it was. They hadn't even asked any questions, they were sure that the other paladins would come to rescue him. They just tortured him for fun.

Still, every day the paladins- his _friends-_ didn't come, he was relieved. If they came, all of them would be captured, the Lions taken, and the universe defenseless. He wasn't worth all that, and he didn't think he could watch- well, _be aware_\- of his friends being tortured like he was. He just couldn't.

A week later, they took his hearing.

He isn't quite sure how, with his eyes they just cut across them. Slowly, and many more times than necessary. He remembered screaming as he cried tears of blood, the last thing he saw was red. But with the hearing, they only put _something _in his ear, like some sort of gel, and suddenly he didn't hear or see anything.

And now, he just wanted to get out of there. The next week was filled with not knowing anything except the pain. He didn't see when the Galra would come in, and he didn't know if he screamed or not.

Eventually, they got bored. One day, they just stopped coming. In a way, that was worse than everything else. He was alone, painfully and truly _alone._ He woke up to darkness and silence, and he just wanted it to end.

He desperately wished the paladins would come for him now. He wished he didn't, he knew he shouldn't because it was a trap and he _knew _that, but as the hours turned to days of being utterly alone with nothing to feel or see or hear, he could feel himself going insane.

And then today, something changed. He sat like he did every day, eyes closed because _what's the point_ in even opening them, and suddenly he felt a hand touch his. He panicked, because even though he wasn't completely alone anymore, he knew that only pain would meet him. He could feel his eyes moving but he couldn't see anything.

But then pain didn't come.

He felt his hands suddenly drop to the ground, but that could only mean he wasn't chained to the wall anymore. Then whoever was there touched his hands and Keith tried to fight them but it just hurt to much, and they lifted his hands and he felt-

-Glass? And hair? That didn't make any sense. Was he touching someone's face? But who's?

He felt around the face with new hope surging inside him because even though he couldn't see, he knew that face.

"Pidge?" he thought he said. He could feel his voice, he just didn't know what it sounded like. Then they pressed his hands against their face and nodded.

Pidge had come, they had all come for him. They had made it here without being caught. He was getting out of here.

He felt like crying with relief and happiness.

But then Pidge moved away and he panicked again. He knew it was irrational to think she had left or that he had imagined the whole thing, but he couldn't feel alone again. Anything but that.

He felt Pidge's hand again and Keith gripped it with both of his. Pidge tugged, gently, and Keith knew it was time to get out of here.

Soon, he would be free.

* * *

Pidge activated her bayard, ready for anything that could come at her.

Or, so she thought. She held Keith close to her as she swung her bayard, electricating anything that came in her path. But meer ticks after she and Keith left that horrible cell, the whole room shook. Hard.

She looked at Lance, who was making that smirk he makes whenever he has a horrible plan he thinks isn't horrible. _Ah. Hunk._

She recovered quickly, and Lance was prepared for the impact of the Lions shot. Keith, however, was looking around frantically. She reached up with squeezed his hand, trying to communicate that everything was fine. Well, sort of fine, anyway.

The Galra didn't recover as fast as they did. Most of them lost balance or concentration because of all the chaos around them, making it easier for Pidge and Lance to attack.

Lance ran over to them as Hunk shot the ship again, the impact making Pidge momentarily lose her balance, but she still held tightly to Keith.

"Lance!" She shouted above the noise, "Are you crazy?"

Lance grinned back at her as he shot a Galra soldier near him. "Yup!"

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. What's the plan?"

Even though having Hunk shoot at the ship was crazy and idiotic, it was actually pretty smart. It distracted the Galra enough for them to regroup and figure out what to do next.

"Well, basically, it's to fight our way to that wall over there," he pointed to the wall facing Pidge's Left, "And then Hunk will break through said wall with Yellow, giving us a way out. I know it's crazy and not well thought out but-"

"It's the only plan we've got." Pidge finished and Lance nodded. "Alright, I think this will work. It's hard to use my bayard and carry Keith, and you have more distance with the gun, so you cover me, okay?

Lance nodded and they started making their way toward the wall.

There weren't as many Galra as there were when they first came, but they were still quite a few and they were now all recovered from the impact of the shot. Pidge deactivated her bayard and put all her energy into carrying Keith, who was getting seemingly heavier by the minute. He wasn't able to walk as well, clearly exhausted, but was still trying his hardest to carry his own weight. Pidge rolled her eyes. Even after two and a half weeks of torture, he was still Keith.

Lance shot anyone who came close to them, and Pidge was reminded yet again that he was a really good shot. She smiled to herself and concentrated again on walking to the wall.

"Hunk!" she shouted through the comms, "We're ready for you. Come through the wall your facing, were on the bottom deck. Hurry!"

"_Pidge? Thank goodness you're alright. Are you all okay?"_

"Yes! Just get here quickly or we won't be!" she shouted.

"_Okay, Okay, I'm coming now! I'll be there in two ticks. Prepare for impact!"_

She and Lance finally reached the wall, Keith now too exhausted and leaning fully on Pidge. There were still so many soldiers, and if Hunk didn't-

Suddenly, the whole ship shook again, only this time it was much harder. And ah, what a beautiful sight indeed. The Yellow Lion of Voltron's had crashed through the wall and it's head was now directly in front on her. Yellow's mouth opened, revealing the entrance to the cockpit. Finally, they were going to get out of there.

Lance glanced over at him and grinned. "It worked. We're getting out of here. We're safe." Pidge grinned back at him.

Then suddenly, something hit her back. Something hot and painful and she suddenly couldn't feel anything but the pain. _...What? _

Then she realized that maybe Lance spoke too soon again. There were still several Galra outside, it was lucky enough this hadn't happened sooner.

She got shot. By a stupid laser gun because she wasn't paying attention enough to notice. Seconds felt like hours as her vision swarmed and she could feel herself falling over. She vaguely heard Lance calling her name before everything went black.

* * *

Keith had no idea what was going on.

He hated depending on people, always had. Every time he trusted someone, they failed him. His mom left him as a baby, his Father died when he was 7. His only friend was abducted by aliens. But right now, he had to depend on Pidge. He was blind, deaf, and seriously injured. He could barely walk and Pidge was taking most of his weight. Currently, he was really out of his comfort zone.

But, as he could feel everything shaking around him for the second time in five minutes, he figured he'd have to deal.

He still tried to take as much of his own weight as he could, but was quickly exhausted and was basically carried by Pidge. She was surprisingly strong for her size and age. Or maybe she was just determined enough.

Suddenly there everything started shaking again, this time even more than before, but Pidge held her ground.

And then Keith felt heat. He's not sure what it was or where it came from, all he knew was that not even a full tick later, Pidge was falling. And he was falling with her.

"Pidge?" he said, not sure if he screamed or whispered the name. "Pidge?" he fell partially on top of her, and he moved to get off, wincing at the pain that shot through him. He felt around for her hands or her face, but someone grabbed his hands, and it was definitely not Pidge.

He fought against them, and he could feel his own voice vibrating through him, but the hands were firm and steady. A few seconds later Keith realized the owner of the hands wasn't attacking or hurting him. One of the other paladins, Keith was mostly sure now, but he couldn't tell which one. So he tentatively lifted his hand to look for the persons face. It took whoever it was a few seconds to realize what he was doing, but when they did, he put Keith's hands to his face.

He felt a long face and a sharply curved nose, Lance, he realized quickly. He must've said his name out loud too, because Lance's face nodded.

"Is Pidge okay?" He said, again feeling the sense of vibration in his throat. He never noticed that before, the vibration. It's really awkward talking without hearing his voice, and very unnerving. Keith kind of hated it.

Lance seemed to have hesitated, and a spike of fear went through him. The fear turned to panic as Lance's head shook no. Keith's hands flew out of Lance's and reached to where he thought Pidge was. He barely noticed the vibration though his throat as his hands reached wildly around but couldn't find her.

He felt Lance grab his hand again, but this time only one of them. He gently moved Keith's arm, and soon he felt Pidge's familiar hand. Wait, not her hand, her wrist. Lance was helping Keith find her Pulse.

He could feel a steady beat. Slow, but steady. Pidge was only unconscious.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and then he could feel movement again, but it wasn't harsh shaking like before, it was smooth and.. Familiar.

Keith would recognize this movement anywhere.

"Lion?" he said simply and probably really quietly. "Safe?"

Lance grabbed his hand and moved it to his head again, then nodded. Keith sighed in relief, this time laying down. He didn't particularly care where he layed, he just did. "Tired." he said, feeling his eyes close. "Sleep."

He felt no sign of protest, and he let himself relax. He was safe now. He didn't know what was coming next or how he would deal with the newfound blindness and deafness, but right now, he just slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.

He said one more thing before he drifted off into unconsciousness, though.

"Thank you."

* * *

Lance only left himself relax as he felt Yellow take off. He had made sure both Keith and Pidge were stable and as comfortable as he could make them. They would be back to the Castle of Lions in only a few doboshes, but Keith had so many injuries and Pidge had literally been shot in the back.

Hunk had contacted Allura and Coran, telling them to prepare two healing pods for the two injured paladins, and by the time the Yellow Lion had warped back to the Castle it would be ready for them.

Now though, Lance sat down by his two unconscious friends, feeling the guilt run through him. This was all his fault. He should have been able to stop Keith from being taken, he should have been able to find Keith before they took away his sight and hearing, he should have noticed the Galra soldier aim at Pidge. He should have-

"Hey, Lance." Hunk walked into his line of sight. "Is Pidge okay? Will she-"

"-Yeah," Lance replied before Hunk could finish, "She's unconscious, but stable. She'll be fine after a few hours in the healing pod."

Hunk nodded in understanding. "What about Keith? He doesn't look so good, shouldn't we try to keep him awake?" he asked, worry lining his voice.

Lance mentally face palmed, he'd been too preoccupied to even think of that. _Just Lance being stupid again. _"I don't know, man. He looked so exhausted, and I didn't even think that-"

Hunk shook his head. "He wasn't bleeding when we got him, right? He has a lot of bad injuries, but he's not bleeding out or anything, I think he'll be fine until we make it to the Castle."

Lance nodded and laid his head back against the wall he was leaning against. He was so tired, he just wanted to sleep, but he knew he had to stay awake until Pidge and Keith were safe in the healing pods.

Only a few more minutes until this whole thing was finally over, probably less than that. Only a few minutes and they could all just forget this whole experience.

He didn't realize, though, that this might just be only the beginning.

* * *

**A/N**

**I'm probably an idiot for posting this before I finished writing the whole story, but I got too excited so leave me alone. So far, its at least 10 chapters long, but it will probably be longer than that. Constructive criticism welcome bc I know I suck. Otherwise, this is my first Voltron fic so I hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Shiro was restless.

For the past hour, he had been pacing the control room just waiting for Lance, Pidge, and Hunk to come back with Keith, all of them safe and sound. He knew it was highly unlikely for Keith to come back unharmed, he had been in the hands of the Galra for two and a half weeks, completely at their mercy. Shiro knew from first hand experience that mercy was not in their vocabulary. He prayed, though, that nothing permanent had happened to his friend. He was reminded everyday of what the Galra took from him; his entire arm had been cut off, painfully and slowly, and replaced with a replica made to become their 'champion.'

If something like that had happened to Keith….

He squeezed his eyes shut. No, he couldn't think like that. He just had to wait here, for who knows how long, not knowing what half his team was going through or if they were alright. He just-

"Shiro!" Allura shouted, making him snap out of his train of thought. "Hunk just commed in, he said they got Keith, but" she trailed off, making Shiro even more worried than he was before.

"But what?" Shiro all but yelled, his usually calm demeanor frantic and worried.

"Keith is badly injured, and Pidge has been shot." She said, voice etched with worry. "Both are currently stable, but we have yet to hear of any permanent damage."

Shiro gripped had to lean against the nearest wall for support. "But they are all alive?" He asked tightly. _Please let them all be alive. _

Allura nodded. "Yes, all of the paladins are alive, and will be here in a few doboshes. I am just about to warp them over."

Shiro let out a sigh of relief. They were all alive, they would all be okay. Everything would be okay.

He started walking to Yellow's hangar, not able to wait and stand idly by anymore. When he made it there, he saw that Coran was already there with two stretchers.

"Ah, Number One!" shouted the red haired advisor exclaimed. "I was just waiting for the Paladins to return. The healing pods are already set up, and they should be here any dobosh."

Shiro nodded, unsurprised to see Coran already here. He went back to his pacing, terrified of how bad it must be to need stretchers. It was only half a dobosh later the hangar _finally _opened and Yellow came speedily through.

Both Coran and Shiro turned to face the Lion as its mouth opened and Hunk and Lance walked out, Hunk carrying Keith and Lance carrying Pidge.

"Shiro!" both conscious paladins shouted, and probably would have ran to their leader if they weren't carrying their injured teammates.

They quickly placed Keith and Pidge on the stretchers and all of them all but ran to the med bay, because they were now _finally_ able to do something to help. Coran scanned Pidge first, and declared her ready to be put in the healing pod, and quickly moved on to Keith.

"Lance," Shiro turned to the blue paladin. "What happened? How bad-"

"Shiro," Lance turned to him, eyes full of sadness. "He's really bad. What they did to him-"

"_Quiznack!" _Coran shouted before Lance could finish. "This is really, really bad."

"Coran?" Shiro asked. "What's wrong? How bad is he?" Based on both his and Lance's reaction, something was really wrong.

Coran's usually cheerful demeanor was serious. "He has many injuries, what looks like burns and cuts, but all of those have already started healing on their own and will probably be fixed with a few varga in the healing pod. But he has Galactic Jelly in both his ears, a gel like substance used to deafen the subject. It was banned back when Altea was around"

"_What?!" _Shiro yelled. The had taken away Keith's, _his brother's, _hearing. "It's not permanent, is it?"

Coran shook his head. "No, we can take it out, but it's extremely painful and he must be conscious. But, Shiro…"

"What else?" _please, don't let there be anything else. _

Coran hesitated, and Lance looked away. Did Lance know what was going on? Finally the Advisor replied. "There is major scarring…. Across and all around his eyes. Keith was not only deaf, but he was also blinded."

Shiro gripped the stretcher, feeling as if he didn't he would fall over right there. Keith had been blind and deaf for who knows how long. Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to fall. "Is...Is the blindness permanent?" _Please, please no._

Coran hesitated again. "Because of the damage done to the eyes, there is no way to heal it. It's not like the Galactic Jelly, not something we can just take out. His eyes are badly scarred. The blindness is permanent."

* * *

Keith was put in the healing pod soon after Coran told Shiro. Lance hadn't known for sure, but he saw the scarring around the eyes, he suspected that the damage was permanent. Yet, when Coran confirmed it, Lance felt like he would fall over at any moment. _If he had just gotten there faster, found Keith sooner…_

But there was nothing they could do. All they could do was wait and try to figure out what to do next.

Lance sat in the med bay where all the others had gathered. It had become a sort of tradition, every time someone was in the healing pod, all the other's would stay in the med bay. If it was overnight, they even brought in blankets and pillows and slept in there. It had only happened a few times, but it led to some fond memories.

Pidge was only going to be a few varga, and would be completely healed before they all went to bed. Keith, on the other hand, wouldn't be healed until early tomorrow morning. Thus, all the other Paladins, plus Allura and Coran, brought in pillows and blankets from around the castle.

When Pidge came out, she was only a little disoriented. The whole group gathered around the pod, just like every other time someone came out of the pod.

"Hey guys," she said, only Lance could barely hear her as she was quickly smothered by everyone within reaching distance.

"Oh, Pidge, were so glad you're okay!" Hunk grinned as he gripped the green paladin.

A few tick's later, Pidge pulled back from the group. "What happened? Did Keith…"

"You got shot in the back with a laser gun," Lance said, unusually blunt. Then he smiled. "But we all made it alive. Keith's in the other healing pod."

Pidge nodded in understanding. "When will he wake up?" then her eyes widened. "Wait, what about-"

The others shot around a nervous glance before Shiro spoke. "The deafness isn't permanent, but it will be painful to fix, and he has to be conscious. But his hearing will come back."

Pidge sighed in relief . "But.. what about his sight?" everyone glanced to the floor, avoiding her eye contact. She quickly realized what was going on. "The damage was too bad, wasn't it? He's permanently blind."

Lance nodded silently, still not meeting her eyes. Pidge took a deep breath. "Okay, well, what's next then?"

This time Allura spoke. "All we can do. We wait for Keith to wake up."

* * *

Keith opened his eyes to darkness. For a second, he thought he dreamed the whole thing, and that his friends hadn't come to rescue him after all. But then, he started falling forward. He moved his arms around to try to catch himself, but someone caught him first. He flinched back, but whoever it was held on tightly, one hand grabbing his arm and another grabbing his wrist. Wait, why did the one on his wrist feel like metal?

He touched the metal with his other hand, and felt it up to a shoulder, and the metal stopped. "Shiro?" He said, hating that he couldn't hear himself talk.

The hand on his arm let go and grabbed his other hand, then moved upward and Keith could feel a head nodding.

Shiro was here. He was with Shiro, and that meant he was safe. He pressed his head to where he thought Shiro's chest was, in the form of a makeshift hug. Only half a tick later, he felt other arms wrap around him too, not just Shiro's. He distantly realised he must have just gotten out of a healing pod, and he wanted to cry with joy that they were all safe.

But then they all started backing away, and Shiro started walking him towards...somewhere, and then he was lightly pushed downward. He felt something underneath him -a chair or table?- and realized Shiro wanted him to sit down.

Then he felt two different hands grip his, tightly, and another pair of hands pressing down on his shoulders. Keith frowned in confusion. What was happening?

Suddenly he was back in the Galra ship, help down so that he couldn't move as they.. As they..

_No, you're not there, your back with you're team, back with Shiro, don't be irrational._

But then there was unbearable pain in his head and now he wasn't so sure. He could feel himself scream, and that could only mean one thing. It had all been a trick. He wasn't sure how, but he knew his friends would never purposefully hurt him, and the fact that he was still in the Galra ship hurt him more than anything.

But then he heard something.

"-Hurting him!"

"I know, I'm sorry, but I'm almost done, just a tick"

"Keith, can you hear me?"

He knew those voices. He _knew _he knew those voices.

"Keith! Please tell me you can hear me!" If he was still in the Glara ship, why was he hearing this voice? It sounded so familiar. The voice sounded really desperate, and something told Keith that that voice should not sound like that. But whose voice was it? He hasn't heard anything in what felt like weeks. Maybe it was weeks, he had no idea. But he couldn't remember..

Wait, no, he knew that voice, he would know it anywhere.

"Shiro?"

He could hear Shiro let out a sigh of relief. "Keith, thank goodness, can you hear me?"

Keith nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can."

Then it hit him. He wasn't in the Galra ship. He was back here, really back here. And, in what felt like the first time in what felt like forever, he could hear. He grinned. "Yeah, yeah, I can hear."

He could hear cheers around him, and remembered that everyone else was probably there too. Then, he remembered that Pidge had been injured. "Wait, Pidge?"

"I'm here, I'm okay Keith." The sound of Pidge's voice make Keith sag in relief. Pidge was all right, they were all alright.

"What happened?" he asked, suddenly realized he knew pretty much nothing. "And what was that...Pain from before?"

A voice he recognized as Coran's spoke. "Well, they put this substance known as Galactic Jelly in your ears. Basically, it's what took away your hearing. The only way to restore it was to take the Jelly out, but it's an extremely painful process, and you have to be fully conscious. We had no way of communicating with you at the time, and we all decided it was best to get it over with. I'm.. sorry about that."

Keith shook his head. "No, it's okay. Thank you." then he realized something else, he was too preoccupied to fully notice before. "What about… the blindness?"

When the only response was silence, he felt a bit of panic rise through him. "..Guys?"

"Keith," he could hear Allura's voice say, "The damage done to your eyes was irreversible. The blindness... is permanent."

* * *

**A/N ****yay chapter two**

**okay so because it's probably gonna be important later this fic takes place in season 2 before the whole shiro thing, but it has mentions of Keith's backstory which we don't find out till season 6. Anyway I'm going to post this basically whenever I feel like it, but at least once a week.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3

Lance sat down against the wall, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. It had only been half and hour sense Keith had woken up, and they had all unanimously decided that he needed to get cleaned up before they talked about what to do next. Keith had, of course, insisted that he could shower perfectly fine by himself, even without his sight. The other's reluctantly agreed, but only if one of them were close by.

Now, Lance was sitting in the hallway outside the bathroom, listening to make sure Keith didn't fall or something. He wasn't at all surprised when he heard what sounded like multiple bottles falling down, followed by a harsh "_Quiznack._"

Lance chuckled quietly to himself. "You alright in there?" he asked almost smugly, no real worry in his voice.

"I'm _fine._" The Red Paladin response in annoyance, clearly upset about the whole situation.

Only a few minutes later Keith came out of the bathroom, and Lance assumed Keith hadn't noticed that his shirt was on inside out, or that half of his hair was still bubbly with soap. Lance smirked, amused. "You making a fashion statement?" he teased.

Keith glared in his direction. "Shut up."

Lance chuckled again. "I'm sorry, it's just, are you aware that your shirt is on inside out? Or that your hair isn't washed all the way?" He joked, falling into their usual routine of teaching and poking insults at each other.

Keith's glare only hardened. "Do _you _want to try showering blind? Or is everything just a joke to you?"

Guilt and a little hurt shot through Lance, and he stood up. "You're right man, I'm sorry. Do you… Need any help?" he asked a little reluctantly.

"I think I can handle rinsing my hair and changing my shirt." Keith said plainly. Then he started walking, probably with the intention of going to his room, but he had only made it about two steps before he rammed straight against the nearest wall. Keith grunted in pain, then sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. I might need a little help."

Keith's face was so full of resignation and defeat that Lance was almost speechless, and with Lance, that was saying something.

"All right buddy, c'mon." He lightly grabbed Keith's shoulder, not missing the slight flinch at his touch. He slowly helped him back into the bathroom because seriously, that hair needed help.

* * *

"What's our next plan of action?"

Team Voltron sat around the lounge, finally ready to talk about what they needed to do next. Shiro glanced at Keith, who was sitting on the edge of the couch, not looking at anyone. Well, that should be obvious, but it was just so un-Keith like that it caught him off guard. Keith was usually the most engaged out of all of them, sometimes even Shiro. Now though, he seemed almost..sad.

"Frankely, I think we should find that witch Haggar and kick some Galra-"

"_Lance," _Shiro chastised before he could finish. "Though, you're not wrong." Lance just smirked and leaned to the back of the couch.

Keith looked in Shiro's direction, confusion written on his face. "Wait, what?"

The team all looked at Keith, who squirmed uncomfortably as if he saw the others gaze in him. Hunk spoke first. "What do you mean? What did you think we meant by 'plan of action'?"

Keith opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed his mouth again.

Pidge's eyes widened. "You didn't think we were going to get rid of you, did you?"

* * *

Keith moved his head downward, 'looking' down, as if ashamed. This whole time he had thought this was a 'you can't exactly fly the Red Lion anymore, so see ya' meeting, and he hadn't been particularly excited about it.

But then the room around him exploded.

"_What?" _"How could you think that?!"

Keith hesitated. "I just.. Assumed that-"

"Keith," He heard Shiro say, and he lifted his head in that direction out of habit. "You are still a part of this team, Blind or not. We are not just going to abandon you because it will be hard. We still want you here."

Allura spoke up for the first time. "You are the rightful Red Paladin, Keith. Nothing is going to change that."

Keith looked down again, wondering if the cuts around his eyes also made it so he couldn't cry because otherwise he'd probably have teared up by now. He nodded slowly. He didn't quite believe that the team would always feel that way, it had only been a few hours, they still didn't know how he was going to adapt to doing, well, _anything _that he now realized he took advantage of before. But the fact that his team felt that way spoke more than words could.

He nodded slowly. "Okay," he said simply. He was never really one for talking, the team knew that, knew he meant more than just 'okay'.

He smiled to himself. If anyone can figure out how to deal with his blindness, it's his team. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

* * *

With that dramatic team meeting finally over, the Paladins went to their respective rooms. Everyone was exhausted from all the dramatics of the last few days -well, technically weeks- and now that it was all over -well, technically over- they could all finally get a good night's sleep. Even though it was still before noon. Whatever. Either way, Allura gave the whole team the rest of the day off, and Lance was intent on spending it doing the thing he loved most.

Sleeping.

Only, this wasn't exactly the blissful sleep he was expecting. Instead, his dreams were warped with a recent memory that hurt to even think about.

"_Why are you so worried?" Lance said, shooting Keith his trademark smirk. "Or are you afraid?"_

_Keith rolled his eyes. "Shut up. All I said was that I had a bad feeling about this. And I thought I had a great instinct."_

_Lance glared. "I said that once, Keith. Once. Only now I'm not so sure, were literally on a deserted planet looking for herbs so that Hunk can make amazing food. That's it. There is literally no one here but us."_

_Then, both Paladins jumped at the loud noise they both knew so well- the landing of a Galra ship. Now it was Keith's turn to smirk. "No one else here, huh?"_

_Lance's eyes widened in the direction of the ship. "Okay, I changed my mind. You have great instinct." he said, pulling out his bayard. "As much as it pains me to say." He added, mumbling._

_Keith shook his head, smirk still on his face. "Let's just get to our lions and get out of here. I don't think they've noticed us yet, but call it in just in case." _

_Lance groaned. "Why? Our lions are only half a mile that way."_

"_Great instinct, remember?"_

_Before Lance could retort, however, Galra soldiers flooded the clearing, dozens of them surrounding them._

_They knew they were here. This wasn't just an unfortunate coincidence, the Galra had come here for them. How had they even known?_

_Before Lance could contemplate that, the soldiers started shooting. The two paladins recovered from their initial shock, and got into defense positions, protecting each other._

"_Shiro!" Lance heard Keith say. "The Galra are here, we need back up!"_

_But both he and Keith knew that even if the team came, they weren't going to make it out unscathed. If they made it out at all. There were just too many of them._

_Lance was basically shooting in every direction, and Keith was masterfully wielding his sword, both doing all they could._

_But it wasn't enough. Lance turned around, still shooting, and saw half a dozen Galra attacking Keith. The Red Paladin was holding his own pretty well considering, but Lance wasn't going to risk anything and shot three of them. Keith quickly finished off the others and gave a nod of thanks to Lance._

_But then Keith's eyes widened in surprise. "Look out! Behind you!"_

_Lance turned around to see a Galra soldier holding the biggest sword he had ever seen charging straight at him. Lance yelped, jumping out of the way. The soldier sneered at him, swinging with all us might, but he was too big and slow, and Lance was too quick for him. _

_Lance was luckily able to stun the soldier because of that. All Lance had to do was make him lose his balance. That wasn't too hard, and when he had he shoot the soldier in the chest, and the Galra fell unconscious._

"_Yeah, did you see that?" He turned proudly to Keith, grinning._

_His grin fell when he saw that Keith had been pinned down, bleeding and in the midst of being handcuffed._

"_Keith!" He shouted, running in that direction. There was no way he could get to him in time, he knew that, there were too many. But that didn't mean that Lance wasn't going to try. _

_But apparently Keith had other ideas. "Lance! Get out of here, run!" Keith looked at him, eyes wide and pleading._

_Lance stopped, but only because the soldiers surrounding Keith had noticed him now. One of them, presumably the leader, smirked. "Tell Haggar we got the strong one. The other one will be detained soon."_

_Lance readied his gun, maiming at the soldiers who were probably going to attract him any minute. He glanced at Keith again._

Please, _the red paladins eyes said. _

_Lances own eyes narrowed. _I will not leave you behind.

I know. _Keith's eyes seems do say, _but I can't let that happen.

_Suddenly Keith, with a new surge of determination practically flew upward, and Lances watched in horror as he, still handcuffed, pulled out his knife and stabbed the nearest soldier. The leader looked at Keith in shock._

_Then Keith shouted. "Uncuff me and fight, or are you too much of a coward?"_

_The leader laughed. "Stupid paladin, this battle is already won." He glanced back to the soldier he spoke with earlier. "Leave the blue paladin. We only need one, and we have one."_

_Then the leader grabbed Keith and indicated to the soldier Keith had killed. "You are going to pay for that, paladin of Voltron. You are going to pay for everything." _

_Keith scowled at him In defiance, but there was nothing either Paladin could do as the soldiers grabbed him and dragged him away. The leader then looked at Lance. "Do not bother fighting or following, any sign that you are doing so and we will kill your teammate. Be grateful we are sparing your life, paladin."_

_Lance's stomach dropped. Keith was being taken away and there was nothing he could do but watch. Keith managed to glance at him as of to saying 'I'm sorry' but Lance's eyes only narrowed further. _We will come for you.

_Keith seemed to understand and looked away, and soon him and the remaining soldiers left._

_As soon as they were all out of sight, Lance dropped to his knees and screamed. Why? Why wasn't he paying attention? Why didn't he listen to Keith when he said something was off? Maybe if he had, the both would have gotten out for there. If only Lance had been better…_

"_Lance? Lance!" He heard Shiro's voice shout, and was vaguely aware of the leader kneeling next to him. "What happened? Are you hurt? Where's Keith?"_

_Lance looked at Shiro and, not looking him in the eyes, shook his head._

_Shiro's face clenched. He said nothing for a few minutes, but then he spoke. "It's okay, it's not your fault. We will get him back. Let's get the lions and get out of here."_

_And that's what they did, that was all they could do. _

Lance woke up, panting. He grabbed his head and tried to stop himself from shaking. _It's okay, he's back now._

Except it really wasn't okay. Now Keith was blind and it was his fault.

He got out of his bed and left his room, controlling his breath. He needed to calm down quickly or he might have a panic attack.

He walked around the castle aimlessly, just feeling his heart rate go back to normal. When he did he realized where he was.

In front of Keith's room.

He must have subconsciously come here.

Lance walked into Keith's room slowly, knocking as he entered. "Hey," he started casually, trying to be his usual cool self.

Keith looked in his direction from his spot on the bed. "Hey." He said just as casually. He looked towards Lance's general area as if waiting for him to say something, which is probably exactly what he was doing.

After a few awkward seconds, Lance finally spoke.

"Look, man. I'm really sorry," he started, and Keith looked up at him in confusion.

For a split second, Lance was taken aback by Keith's eyes. It had only been a couple hours sense they all found out about his blindness, and It was still kind of sinking in. Keith's gaze was right on him, but at the same time it wasn't, unfocused and unseeing. His usual purple-ish color was no longer there, replaced with a milky gray that was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. And there were scars, scars that were all around his eyes, small, silver lines that decorated his eyelids.

And it hit him yet again that Keith was blind because of him. Blind because Lance was his usual stupid self, because he couldn't even be good enough to protect his friend. And now Keith would never see again.

Keith's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?" Lance almost laughed at the question. Wasn't it obvious? But there was no tone of snark or sarcasm, just confusion.

"It's my fault. It's all my fault, I-" he choked up, tears threatened to fall but Lance refused to let them, even if Keith wouldn't see them.

"Hey, hey, what?" Keith's frown deepened, and he stood up. "This isn't your fault. How could you even think that?"

"I- I should have been able to stop them, if I was just-" he rambled, looking down. The knowledge that this had happened because of him- maybe not directly, but he still caused it- hurt more than anything.

"No, stop." Keith walked over and felt around for Lance's shoulders. Finding them, he said "Lance. You did not do this. The Galra did this, that _witch _did this. And if you had done anything more, you would've been captured yourself, and I couldn't let that happen. You can't keep blaming yourself for things you have no control over."

Lance shook his head, barely aware that Keith couldn't even see the action. "But I _should _have, that's the point. I should have been able to stop it, I should have been able to find you-"

Keith gripped Lance's shoulder, as . "Lance, _this is not your fault._" he said, determined. "I don't blame you, I didn't even consider blaming you. Please, don't blame yourself."

Lance nodded slowly. Maybe Keith was right, maybe there really wasn't anything he could have done. But that didn't mean he thought that he shouldn't be better, because Lance knew he still wasn't good enough.

But it also didn't mean he wasn't going to try to be.

* * *

**A/N Yaay a flashback so that yall finally know what happened..**

**Okay so I officially decided that Ill post every Tuesday at least, but if I feel like it i guess i might post a little more. But from now on probably just once a week. also each chapter will be at least 2K words, maybe more. Anyway let me know if you like it cuz then i'll be more motivated to write more and then post more often. Eh? Eh? No? okay**


	4. Chapter 4

Keith woke up, feeling sunlight- well, the ships artificial sunlight- warm his face. Usually he would open his eyes to see the beautiful light dance around the advanced technology of the Castle of Lions, and that was what he fully expected to see now. For a second, he was surprised when he had only opened his eyes to blackness.

Oh. Right. That.

It was still hard to get used to, to remember that everytime he opened his eyes, that's all he could see, all he would ever see. He wished he had at least gotten to see everything in detail before he lost it, because he couldn't remember it all.

That included, he realised with a pang, what his friends looked like. He couldn't remember the exact faces and expressions of his friends. He couldn't remember the color of Pidge's glasses, or how much taller Lance was than him. Couldn't remember the shade of gray that Shiro's eye's were, how what Hunk's smile looked like. He tried so hard to imagine their faces, the shapes and colors, but he couldn't. It was like it was blurry or fuzzy, he couldn't imagine every detail. And that hurt, that really hurt, because he would probably never remember.

Suddenly, he had to do something, anything, to keep his mind off that fact. Usually, he would train, but now…

Okay, this was frustrating.

Keith figured then that this was probably the best time to learn how to get around. That was going to be.. Interesting, to say the least. He stood up, sighing, and made his way to the door, waving his arms around to make sure he didn't hit anything. Finding the wall, he felt it in the direction he thought the doorway was in. Finally, he found it and left the room.

Okay, where should he try to go? Should he just go around the castle and figure out where everything is, or should he think of a place to find? Feeling a pang of hunger, he decided to figure out how to get to the kitchen, then learn how to make himself food because he couldn't always depend of his friends to do it for him.

Finding it was harder than he thought it would be, and he realized he took even that for granted. He never bothered to notice how many rooms there were between his room and the kitchen, or which hallway to turn onto. Finally, he thought he found it. He entered the room and felt around, quickly realizing that he was, in fact, _not _in the kitchen. He was in...somewhere with a whole lot of tools.

Ah, Hunk's and Pidge's work room, for when they got some sort of genius invention idea. Which was often. The work room was only a few doors down from the kitchen, so he was close.

Only about 2 minutes later, he finally found the kitchen. Now for the hard part.

They had bought some earth cooking food at the space mall, and had lots of earth-_like _spices and foods. Before this whole thing happened, Keith would come here every morning to make a small breakfast. And by breakfast, he meant toast. Only, he couldn't find the bread. Or the toaster for that matter.

This was so frustrating. He couldn't even find bread, that's how useless he was.

"Aaaarrgghh!" he yelled, frustrated and angry. He grabbed the nearest thing he could to throw, because he needed to throw something. Apparently he couldn't even do _that_, because as soon as he grabbed it, he felt searing pain.

A knife, he realized suddenly. He had grabbed the blade of a knife of all things.

He dropped it back down, feeling blood pool up in his hand. He fell to the floor, sitting against the wall. He didn't even know what to do, he didn't even know where bandages were, much less how to get out of the room. The cut was deep, but he just couldn't do anything but sit there and cry in pain.

"Keith?" he heard someone call his name- Hunk, he realized. "Keith, buddy, are you okay? I heard a-" Hunk stopped, he must've seen Keith right then because when he continued he said "Oh _quiznack,_ what happened?"

Keith didn't say anything or even make a move of acknowledgement. He could hear Hunk running over and kneeling next to him, grabbing his injured hand. He winced at both the sudden contact and the new wave of pain that ensued.

"Keith, alright buddy, I'm going to get some bandages for this, I will be right back." Hunk sounded worried and seemed to be waiting for some sort of response, so he nodded slowly but said nothing.

It was literally less than a minute before he came back, and Hunk seemed to sense Keith's confusion. "I have a first kit in the kitchen, put it in here after about a week." he gave a short laugh as he started cleaning the wound. "I'm so clumsy, I don't think I've gone a week without accidentally cutting myself."

Keith smiled as Hunk finished cleaning the wound and started wrapping it. Hunk probably had a natural talent of making people feel better, even if the Yellow paladin didn't know it. He could probably calm anyone down just by talking to them.

Hunk cleared his throat. "So, um.." He tied the bandage on Keith's hand but didn't let go. "What happened?"

Keith dropped his head. "I tried to make some food, and I couldn't. I got.. Frustrated, grabbed the closest thing. Which.. Happened to be a knife." He laughed dryly. "Ironic, right?"

He heard Hunk sigh, and shifted to a presumably more comfortable position. "Keith, you might not be able to do the things you could before yet, but man, if anyone can learn to, it's you." Keith moved his head in the direction of Hunk's voice, as if looking at him.

"What?"

Hunk gave a short laugh again. "Seriously, Keith, you're the most determined out of all of us. It might take awhile for you to get used to it, but I'm sure you will. And anything you can't do, we'll all help you figure out. Like, we could put braille all around the castle so you can find things. Pidge and I have actually been tossing around ideas."

"Really?" Keith asked. He was a little surprised. With the blindness, he felt like he couldn't do anything, like he'd never be able to again. But Hunk was saying that they all thought he'd be able to adapt. And they all wanted to help him, too. It actually really helped, knowing they'd had his back. He'd been alone his whole life, it was almost weird to not be.

"Yeah, we're here for you. I hope you know that."

Keith smiled. "I think I might now." then he frowned again, another hidden fear coming up. "Hunk, what if I can never fly again?"

He hadn't wanted to think it. He didn't even want to _think _of thinking it, but it had been nagging at the back of his brain sense he was told the blindness was permanent. He'd realized that with most things he'd be able to adjust. He'd been planning on learning braille, and everything else he'd just adapt to. But flying? It _needed _sight. He had to see everything in his peripheral vision, outside and inside the ship.

Flying had been Keith's support. He'd been naturally good at it, it was the only thing he had been naturally good at. When Shiro had tested him and the other kids with the video game simulator, Keith had never done it before. That had been his first time, and he had been the only one to make it that far. When he did it, he felt something. A thrill, an excitement filling through him as he maneuvered the controls. There was something, _something _just amazing about it, something he just loved.

And it was nothing compared to the first time he had flown an actual ship. He'd thought the simulation was amazing, but the thrill was so much better with the real thing. Flying was millions of problems every minute, needing to be solved in seconds or everything would fail. And just the feeling of speed and excitement gave Keith something he never had before. Passion. It was the only thing that kept him sane when he was told that Shiro had died.

But now? Now he was afraid that he would never feel that again. Feel what made him _him. _He didn't think he could handle losing that.

He dropped his head again, now sure that his tear ducts were damaged because otherwise he'd be crying. "Oh, _quiznack, _what if I never fly again?"

He may have never told anyone but Shiro about his love for flying, but Hunk had seemed to understand. "Keith, I-" Hunk stopped talking, probably unsure of what to say. Then he sighed. "Keith, I promise you, we will figure something out."

Keith nodded, but stopped as he felt Hunk's arm's wrap around him. He usually wasn't one for physical touch, but sense everything had happened, touch was one thing he could use to understand his surroundings and connect him to the world around him. Without sight, it was like he couldn't fully… connect. He could hear still, but that was almost not enough. He now realized that with touch he could connect. He wrapped his arms around Hunk tightly, probably surprising the Yellow paladin. "Thank you," He said, and he meant It.

* * *

"Hey, Red."

Keith walked into the hangar slowly, feeling the walls. He could 'feel' his lion like he could that first day he and the paladins found the lions. Like when he could feel Blue in the desert. That was probably the only reason he could find the hangar in the first place.

He could feel Red connect with his mind, communicating with him for the first time in almost three weeks. The lion sent him feelings of guilt and regret, and it said all it needed to for him to understand. Keith chuckled lightly.

"Do you blame yourself, too?" he asked aloud, smiling softly. "You shouldn't, because I don't"

The feelings of guilt remained, this time with desperation and mental images of being trapped and in pain. Keith walked closer to Red, and finally finding her, he put his hand on her paw. "Did they hurt you too? When they took me, did they trap you?"

The feeling of conformation and more regret filled him um, and Keith felt a sudden urge of anger. Why did they have to hurt red, too?

Wait.

If the red and blue lions were on the planet were they had no back up, why didn't the Galra take the lion's too? Was it because Shiro was coming, or because they needed to leave quickly?

Or did they have a bigger plan?

Keith's train of thought was stopped when he heard the castle's alarms ringing throughout the castle.

"_Paladin's! Get to your lion's quickly, three Galra ships are attacking!"_

Allura's voice rang through the comms, and Keith could hear the others running to their lions. He had instinctually moved to Red's entrance, and it seemed Redhat instinctually opened it. He ran to the cockpit, arm feeling the wall, and he sat in the chair ready to join his friends to defend the castle.

Oh, wait, he couldn't see anything.

How was this so easy to forget? He was literally blind and he kept forgetting it.

"Guy's, I don't think I can-" he started to say.

"_Keith?" _he could hear Shiro's voice through the comms. "_We don't expect you to come yet, it's okay."_

"Yeah, but-"

"_Look, it's only been a day since you got back, you probably shouldn't be jumping right back in yet anyway."_ Shiro said, and Keith couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Even though Shiro was probably right.

He stayed in Red, though, because he still had to make sure the team was all right.

But by the sounds of it, they weren't. Lance was screaming at Pidge to do something, and Hunk was taking too many hits. The Galra were winning, and they needed Voltron. They needed him. But how?

"Red, please, I need to get out there. I need to help." he begged, even though he didn't know what to do, or what he could do.

He closed his eyes in concentration, shaking. He could now here all of them screaming, he _needed _to get out there.

Suddenly he felt something. It felt like the feeling when he could feel Red, only stronger. Like Red was connecting with him deeper than ever before, and he remembered yet again that first week being a paladin when Coran had…

….blinded them.

Keith practically launched into position, hope filling him. When Coran had darkened their helmets and they couldn't see, Shiro had connected through the Black lion and could 'see' through it. That meant Keith could too.

Red was connecting with him like Black had connected with Shiro.

And suddenly, he knew what to do. Everything was instinct, but he reached out and grabbed the levers. And suddenly he was flying.

* * *

They were screwed. Shiro knew it. Yellow was getting badly damaged, and Pidge and Lance couldn't get through the Galra ships. They were too strong, and the team couldn't win. They needed Voltron, and Shiro knew it.

But that clearly wasn't happening. Shiro didn't want Keith out here yet, not just because he was blind, if anyone could be blind and be a paladin of voltron, it was Keith. No, It was because Shiro was worried about Keith. He had just been subjected to torture for two and a half weeks, that wasn't something he could brush off. He might seem okay, but Shiro didn't think he was.

So when he saw the Red Lion flying towards them, he didn't know what to think. "Keith, what?"

"_I can see!_" Keith shouted through the comms.

Everyone who wasn't in immediate danger paused. "Wait, what?" Shiro blinked.

"Well, not like _see _see. More like Red's telling me what to do and everything that's going on, and I'm doing it. It like-"

"You connected with Red like I did with Black." Shiro smiled, proud. A surge of hope filled him. "Guys, get in formation, we need to form Voltron!"

* * *

**A/N Yay forming Voltron.**

**Okie so here is Chapter 4, hope you enjoyed. lemme know if you did.. by reviewing. i know im so subtle. Thank you to everyone who liked, followed, and reviewed. have a nice day.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chap 5

Keith was exhilarated.

This is the closest he had been to flying sense he was taken. It wasn't exactly the same, not only because he now couldn't see, but flying Red had never been the same as flying a ship. It was like someone else in charge. But he still felt the same excitement, the same thrill he did when he piloted.

So as he flew toward the battle, he grinned widely. He could hear Shiro's questioning voice over the comms, and all he responded with was "I can see!"

Maybe not the best choice of words considering, but Keith wasn't really thinking as he said them. It wasn't like he could _see, _see. It was more like he could sense what was around him, like he could feel what Red felt.

The others did not follow that same train of thought, though, because now even more confused voices came through the comms. "Not _see, _see." he explained as he reached the other paladins, still grinning. Shiro quickly understood that Keith had connected with Red, and soon enough the others did too.

Then, for the first time in three weeks, they formed Voltron.

It felt _so good _to finally feel like he could do something. He had spent the last few days doing nothing but walking around and learning braille. Which was harder than it looked. Seemed. Whatever. But now? Now he was fighting, helping. And forming voltron was as exhilarating as ever, especially after weeks not being able to.

It seemed that his teammates felt the same, Keith noticed, as he heard whoops and cheers over the comms.

"_Yeah_!" Lance shouted, as thrilled as Keith.

"_Ohh, that was amazing_," Hunk sighed. Murmurs of agreement again over the comms were clearly heard, and all of team voltron felt determined and trilled as ever.

"_Alright team, let's take these Galra out!_" Shiro shouted, and was quickly responded by several 'Yeah!'s from all of them.

After that, taking down the Galra ships was a landslide. Voltron was huge, nearly impenetrable, and had unlimited weapons. They were practically undefeated when they worked as one. The battle was over in a matter of minutes, one ship completely destroyed and two retreating quickly.

They were just about to deform when another ship came into their line of vision.

"_We don't know who they are, do not attack yet!_" Shiro said over the comms, ever the confidant leader they all needed. "_Keep defences at the ready. Pidge, set up a line and call them. They haven't shown any sign of attacking, so let's see what they want."_

Pidge, as always, did so in a matter of seconds, and soon a line was connected. Keith couldn't see who it was, but he could hear him speak.

"_Greetings. I am Alrag. Is this the mighty Voltron I have heard of?_"

Shiro was always the one who spoke, being the leader. "_We are the Paladins of Voltron,"_ he said calmly, giving Keith no indication of if this Alrag was friend or foe.

Over the comms that connected only to the team, he heard Lance speak. "_He's a Galra,_" he whispered as if afraid the stranger would hear their conversation.

Keith could practically hear Pidge's eyes roll. "_Yeah, Lance, we can see that._" then he heard a sharp intake of breath. "_Oh, quiznack, Keith. Sorry-_"

Keith smirked, more amused than offended. "It's fine, Pidge. If he's Galra, why isn't he attacking? Is he a member of the Blade?"

"_Shh_!" Hunk quieted the group, and they listened back into the conversation.

The man- Alrag- spoke. "_I am a member of the Blade of Marmora,_" he said, and Keith heard a 'Keith guessed it,' from Lance. "_I heard some radioactivity in this direction and saw signs of battle, and I hoped to come aid against the Galra. It seems as if you handled it, though._"

"_We have heard of the Blade,_" Shiro said, still formal. "_You have all been a great help in our fight against the Galra._"

There was silence, then Along talked again. "_If I may, I might have some helpful information for you and your team. Maybe we can be of help to each other._"

More silence, Keith now assumed Shiro nodded. "I think that would be great." he said, slightly less formal and more trusting.

Keith had a.. Weird feeling about this. His instincts were almost always on point, and right now, he felt like he couldn't trust this Alrag. Something about him seemed familiar, something in his voice that reminded Keith of something. He had a sick feeling, like the feeling of cold water in his veins, the feeling of fear and pain. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel like Alrag couldn't be trusted. Then a thought rung deep through his head. What if Alrag had something to do with his torture?

Suddenly Keith lost all focus on everything else. What if this man had been one of his kidnappers, one who took away his sight and hearing, one who caused him so much pain? Keith couldn't see him now, and it's not like he got a clear view of this torturers' faces. None of the soldiers talked much either. Keith could feel himself panicking, suddenly lightheaded as he took quick and short breaths, feeling like he couldn't get air and desperate for it. He gripped onto Red's controls, trying to stop himself from going into a full blown panic attack.

"_Keith_?" Lance's voice broke through his thoughts. "_Keith, are you okay?"_

"I-" he started, voice shaking, still trying to get some air. "I- I think I'm about to have a panic attack." Or maybe he was already. He couldn't tell. He started feeling like he was back there, back on the Galra ship. Feeling hurt and pain and not knowing what was happening next. Images flashed through his head, memories flooding and replaying like a broken record. He felt like he was plunged in ice, and he _couldn't breathe._

"_Keith!" _He could hear the other's distantly shout, and he could feel Red moving, taking control. Soon, they had landed and Keith assumed they had returned to the Castle. He could feel himself start to relax at the familiar movement of Red as she made it to the hanger, and he started getting control of his breathing. Only seconds later, he could hear his teammates enter Red.

"Keith? Are you okay? What happened?" Hearing Shiro's voice and feeling his hand touch Keith's shoulder, he relaxed almost completely.

"I'm not sure." He said slowly, still shaking a little bit. "Something about Alrag-" he stopped, not sure how to explain. Now that he was thinking reasonably, he realized it was pretty unlikely Alrag was one of his torturer's. It was more likely that because Alrag was a Galra, it just freaked him out. "I- i was probably thinking unreasonably, but-"

Shiro seemed to understand before he even said anything. "Seeing- well, being in the presence of- a Galra just days after being tortured by them made you panic, yeah?"

Keith nodded, glad he didn't have to say it out loud. The others in the room hadn't said anything yet, for which he was glad because if they had all come in talking, it might have overwhelmed him. Now, though, he was just glad they were there.

* * *

Only a few minutes later he and the team were waiting for Alrag, all tensely standing by the hanger door.

"Keith, are you sure your okay? You don't have to-" Lance tried to say, but Keith interrupted him.

"I'm fine." he said, now trying to keep a little of his dignity. Keith was kind of embarrassed. He was literally about to have a panic attack just because there was a Galra there. Luckily, the team didn't seem to want to make fun of him for it. He didn't really think they would, but it was still embarrassing.

But when he heard Alrag walk in, he tensed up. He could feel someone's arm- probably Shiro's- grip his own, helping keep him relaxed. He didn't pay attention to the conversation, he was just trying to keep his breathing steady. This really sucked. Who knew panic attacks were racist.

It wasn't too long before he could hear Alrag and some of the team leave the room. He turned in the direction of Shiro, whose arm was still on his. "What did he say? I kind of wasn't paying attention.." he trailed off, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal.

Shiro sighed. "He says he wants to help us out and join the mission."

Keith nodded, assuming it was something along those lines. "Okay, well, the Blade are already on our side, so nothing new, right?" Good thing they were on their side but not directly working with them. Keith definitely wasn't ready for that, even if he pretended it was fine.

"Not quite.." Shiro said, and Keith frowned. "He is going to stay on the Castle, and help us directly. He thinks he'll be more of help that way."

"And.. you said yes?"

"We decided it would be a good idea for more backup, so we agreed. But Keith, if you're not-"

"No," Keith said, shaking his head. "You're right, it would be smart to have backup, and he probably has a lot of information for us anyway. It's fine."

It wasn't fine.

He couldn't say that though, Shiro and the others would probably just think he did because of his kidnapping. But he still didn't fully trust Alrag, even though it was probably crazy. But he felt like there was something wrong with the whole situation, and not just because Keith had been tortured by the Galra. No, his instincts were telling him something was off, and he was going to find out what.

* * *

A few hours later, Keith was looking around the Castle to look for Shiro again. After the conversation in the hanger, Keith needed a break. He also needed to re-wrap his wound from when he grabbed the knife, it had opened up during the battle. It took a while to find the bandages, and by then Hunk had found him and helped him.

After that, he tried to teach himself how to maneuver around the castle, figuring he probably needed to learn. As he got more comfortable with that, he remembered his fears from earlier that day. Not the almost panic attack, but the hidden fears of how the blindness is affecting him. That he couldn't remember what his friends looked like, that he wouldn't be able to fly ever again.

And pretty soon after that, he came up with a sort of solution. To the first one, at least. It might not even work, but it might be worth a try.

The only thing was, it might be kind of awkward. So that was why he was now looking around for Shiro. Allura saw him and told him he was in the training room. Keith was now at least a little more comfortable going around the castle. Soon enough, he made it to the right room.

"Um, Shiro?" Keith called out. "Where-"

"Hey, Keith," Shiro spoke, and Keith turned and tried to walk in that direction. "What's up?"

Distantly, he heard Shiro ending his training sequence and walk towards him. When Keith said nothing, Shiro asked again. "Keith?"

Finally, he spoke. "I, uh, wanted to ask you something."

Shiro waited a couple for a couple seconds before saying "What is it?"

Keith hesitated. "I can't," he sighed, dropping his head. "I can't….remember what all of you look like. Not completely, anyway. It's been too long since i've seen your faces, so when i try to imagine you, it- it's fuzzy and unclear. I-" he rambled, "I'm afraid that one day, I might not even remember at all."

Shiro said nothing. Not in a shocked, angry way, but in a sympathetic way. Keith knew that if he could see his face, it would be full of understanding. That was how Shiro comforted people, he let them do the talking.

So Keith continued. "So, I… I was wondering if I could..'look' at your face."

He could sense Shiro's confusion, so he explained, "I think that if I.. felt your face I might get a clearer image." He felt the heat rising in his face, embarrassed. He still wasn't used to touching people, or visa versa. It sometimes made him uncomfortable too. But since he had been rescued, it was different. Like he needed touch to connect him to the world around him. But that didn't make this less awkward for him. "I mean, if you don't want-"

"Of _course, _Keith." Shiro walked closer to him. "I understand, and it's fine. You don't have to be embarrassed."

Keith breathed, relieved. "Okay." Of course Shiro would be fine with it, they had known each other for years now. Even though Shiro was seven years older than Keith, he was his closest friend. Before Voltron, he had been his _only _friend. To Keith, Shiro was his brother.

So he Tentatively raised his hands to where he thought Shiro was, but felt Shiro's hands grab his and pull them a slightly different direction.

Soon, he felt Shiro's face, and he started feeling around it. He started around his nose, clearly feeling his scar. It was thicker than he had remembered, and he wondered what the color looked like again. He moved his hand downward, feeling to the tip of Shiro's nose. It wasn't as long as his own, and it was more round than pointed. Then he felt his cheekbones down to his jawline, then the sharp line to his chin. He had a more square chin than the others, he remembered, and just above the chin were thin lips. He felt upward towards his forehead and then back to the eyes, careful not to touch them directly. His eyes were small and long, revealing his Japanese characteristics.

Keith finished, and dropped his arm by his side. It still wasn't perfectly clear or exact, but he had a better mental image of his closest friend. "Thanks," He said, smiling.

"It's no problem, Keith."

* * *

Asked all the others too, Pidge and Hunk first. He figured that they wouldn't be awkward about it, and they weren't. He asked Allura and Coran next, both of them just as fine with it as all the others were. He asked Lance last. Not for any real reason, except Lance would be most likely to tease him for asking. He hadn't though, and Keith now had a clearer memory of what his teammates looked like. He felt better than he had in weeks, he felt like things were finally getting better.

Of course, that didn't last long.

He was going around the Castle again, still needing some practice on moving around. Then he heard Alrag. He had almost forgotten about him, distracted by what else had happened that day. When he heard him, he was about to turn away and go another direction. But then he heard what he was saying.

"The Paladins of Voltron have integrated me into their team, and believed everything I told them. The plan continues to be a success."

When Keith heard that, he stopped walking immediately, and hid where he thought Alrag wouldn't see him. Who was he talking to? What plan?

And then he heard the voice he would be happy to never hear again.

"_Good, commander Alrag._" Spoke Haggar over some kind of comm. "_Lord Zarkon will be very pleased with this news. They continue to suspect nothing?"_

"Yes," Alrag said, almost smugly. "They think they are one step ahead, unaware they are many steps behind. They didn't even consider that we let the Paladin of Red be rescued purposefully, that he is only back with them because we want him there."

Keith's stomach dropped. _He is only here because they want him to be. _That sentence rung around over and over again in his head, his breath quickening. He would've fallen over if he hadn't caught himself on the wall.

His instincts had been right. He knew that there was something about Alrag that felt off. Now he knew that this was a double-cross, that Alrag was sent by Haggar to trap them or kill them or capture them. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't good. Not only that, but he had thought that he was safe, finally safe after weeks of pain and torture. But he hadn't been safe, he _wasn't_ safe.

He needed to find Shiro, or _anyone _and warn them. As soon as he did, Alrag would be screwed and he knew it, because no one can stop team voltron. He took a deep breath, and felt the wall to get up as quickly as he could.

But someone grabbed his arm shoulder so hard it pulled him back.

"Where do you think you're going?: Alrag's voice rang through Keith's ears, sending chills down his spine. He tried to pull free, but that only succeeded in Alrag gripping him harder, and slamming him against the wall. Keith grunted in pain, dropping his head.

"I asked you a question, boy." The Galra general growled menacingly. "What did you hear?" Keith pressed his lips together, not saying anything in response.

If he could see, he would've seen Alrag sneer down at him. "You will not say a word."

Keith lifted his head, as if looking at him in defiance. "Why wouldn't?" He knew he hit a nerve. No matter what this Galra did to him, he would find his team and warn them, and then they would stop Alrag and Haggar, and then this whole thing would finally be over. For real this time.

And if Alrag killed him, it'd be pretty obvious to the team. Keith smirked. Even Lance would be able to tell it was the only other person on the ship that wasn't on team Voltron.

Alrag;s growl deepened. "Because if you do, I will kill all of them."

Keith glared. "How are you supposed to do that? It'd be 7 against one, not to mention we have the Lions of Voltron on our side." Alrag could threaten him all he want, but Keith knew he had him cornered.

But then Alrag chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound that almost made Keith's heart stop. "You always were defiant. Too confident in yourself and your team."

Keith frowned. What?

"Isee you don't remember be, Paladin." Now Keith was a little confused. What was the Galra general talking about?

"I've tortured many people. Killers, innocents, prisoners of war. But I must say, you were the most fun to break." Alrag spoke darkly, and his words made Keith stop breathing.

His instincts had been right from the beginning. Alrag had been one of the people who tortured him. One of the people to take his sight away.

Keith took in a ragged, shaky breath. He couldn't say anything, he was too focused on trying to calm himself down. He needed to calm down. _Breath, _the told himself.

But then Alrag spoke again. "It took a while, too. But everyone breaks eventually, even you." His tone was smug and proud. Then, it was back to a threatening growl. "So don't even _think _that I couldn't kill you or your friends anytime I wanted. In fact, I already put precautions in place. Would you risk it? Would you put your friends life's in danger, even with good reason?"

Keith said nothing, his breath quickening. Suddenly it felt like earlier that day, when he had been on the verge of a panic attack.

Voice shaking, he asked "w-what precautions?"

Alrag laughed again. "Do you think I Would tell you? That would just take the fun out of it."

Keith swallowed and tried to regain his breath, but he couldn't stop shaking. Then he lifted his head in Alrag's direction again with a new surge of confidence, because one thing he had said didn't make sense. "Why don't you just kill us now? You said you could kill us whenever you wanted. Why not get rid of all of Voltron? Isn't that what you want?"

"You Paladins think the universe revolves around you. Our plan is bigger than just Voltron."

"So you need us alive?" He asked. If the Galra needed Voltron alive, then Alrag couldn't just kill them. Right?

"No. You being alive just makes the plan easier. Don't think I won't kill them, Paladin. Give the slightest hint of speaking a single word, and I will kill them all."

* * *

**A/N sorry i totally forgot to post yesterday... i also probably wont be able to post next tuesday because i am super busy with this school trip thing. Please let me know if you liked it **


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